1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to systems and methods for retrievably storing the results of an age calculation or other authorization determination.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many situations exist in which a merchant or other businessperson is legally obligated to control the sale of certain goods or services by ensuring that customers meet a minimum age limit or are otherwise authorized to purchase the good or service. For example, clerks typically verify the age of customers who wish to purchase alcohol or tobacco products. Other products, such as fireworks, firearms, lottery tickets, adult-content literature, and other products, may also be age-controlled. In addition, merchants may be legally required to restrict the age of customers in other situations, such as at the entrance to a bar, casino, adult-entertainment establishment, or age-controlled movie. In many jurisdictions, merchants who do not fulfill their legal obligations to restrict access to age-controlled goods and services may be subject to fines, the loss of their license to do business, or other penalties.
However, in many situations where an authorization check may be indicated for some transactions, other transactions occur for which no check of authorization is needed. Furthermore, one transaction may comprise items with varying authorization thresholds. For example, a desired rental at a video rental store may comprise three movies, each associated with a different age-related authorization threshold, depending on the rating assigned to the movie. Similarly, grocery stores that sell alcohol and tobacco products, which can be associated with various age threshold restrictions, typically also sell other products that are not associated with any minimum age threshold.
Performing an authorization check that complies with legal and other requirements entails knowing a correct authorization threshold for a transaction that comprises one or more items, each of which may individually be associated with a different authorization threshold. In some current systems, determination of a correct authorization threshold for a transaction that comprises items associated with one or more individual authorization thresholds is carried out mentally by a clerk associated with the transaction. In such situations, correct determination of an appropriate authorization threshold can be subject to inaccuracies caused at least in part by stresses inherent in a point of sale setting as well as by lack of skill or care exercised by the clerk.
Furthermore, current systems that determine authorization, such as an authorization ,based on age, at a point of access control to a restricted item typically do not provide documentation of the age calculation or other authorization check associated with a given transaction, although such documentation could become very useful if a business establishment is accused of failing to comply with authorization regulations. For example, consider the situation in which an eighteen-year old customer uses false identification to purchase several items, including cigarettes and alcohol, and is subsequently apprehended by the law. If the customer prefers not to surrender the false identification used, but to claim instead that his or her true identification card was deemed by the clerk to be sufficient for the purchase, the merchant may be accused of selling the alcohol illegally. Without a record of the transaction and the associated identification check, the merchant may have difficulty establishing his or her compliance with the law.
Other forms of authorization requirements unrelated to age may also be mandated by law at a point of sale or other point of control for access to a product, a service, a location, an event, or the like. For example, in some jurisdictions, felons may be restricted from purchasing firearms. Additionally, even if age-checking or other authorization is not mandated by law, some products and situations exist for which a merchant may voluntarily wish to verify that customers"" authorization has been checked, such as for insurance or other internal management purposes.
Hence, it will be appreciated from the foregoing that there is a need for authorization verification systems and methods that determine an authorization threshold that will authorize access to the items of a transaction. There is a further need for authorization verifications systems and methods that provide a retrievable record of the fact that a point-of-access-control authorization determination was performed for transactions requiring age-based or other types of authorization.
Systems and methods are described that determine a threshold value for an authorization check, such as an age verification, that is performed at a point of sale or other point of access control where access to a product, service, location, event, or the like, is restricted to individuals who meet an authorization threshold. In embodiments associated with purchases that comprise a variety of items for purchase and a variety of associated age-related authorization thresholds, systems and methods are described for determining an age-relared authorization threshold for the purchase as a whole that will authorize the purchase of the items. In embodiments in which a purchaser""s authorization is checked with respect to a determined threshold value, a record of the authorization check can be stored and can subsequently be retrieved to verify that an authorization check for the encounter was carried out using the determined threshold value.
In various embodiments, the system uses a criterion other than age to determine that an individual is authorized to make a purchase or to otherwise participate in a transaction, and retains a record of the determination for subsequent retrieval.
An embodiment of a process is described for determining an age-related authorization threshold for a purchase comprising at least one item. The process comprises the acts of: (i) identifying an item that a purchaser is attempting to purchase; (ii) identifying an age-related authorization threshold associated with the item; (iii) repeating acts (i) and (ii) for the items of a purchase; (iv) selecting an authorization threshold to be the authorization threshold for the purchase; (v) calculating the age of the purchaser; and (vi) storing in a memory a record indicative of the purchase and of the calculated age of the purchaser.
An embodiment of a point of sale device is described for determining an age-related authorization threshold for a purchase that comprises a plurality of items. The point of sale device comprises an item identifier apparatus that is configured to identify items that a purchaser is attempting to purchase. The point of sale device comprises further a computer memory that is configured to store a database of age-related authorization information regarding items that are available for purchase, wherein the information comprises identification information for the items and age-related authorization thresholds associated with the items. The point of sale device further comprises a computer processor configured to receive a plurality of signals from the item identifier apparatus that identify the plurality of items of the purchase. The computer processor is further configured to use the received item identifier signals to access the database of age-related authorization information in the computer memory. The computer processor is further configured to determine, based at least in part on the age-related authorization information, an age-related authorization threshold that authorizes the purchase of the items.
An embodiment of a computerized system is described for determining an age-related authorization threshold for a purchase that comprises a plurality of items. The system comprises: means for obtaining electronic identifiers for a plurality of items that a purchaser is attempting to purchase; means for using the electronic identifiers to access a database of age-related authorization information associated with the items; and means for determining, based at least in part on the age-related authorization information, an age-related authorization threshold that authorizes the purchase of the items.
An embodiment of a software module is described. The software module gives a device the capability to obtain electronic identifiers for a plurality items that a purchaser is attempting to purchase; to use the electronic identifiers to access a database of age-related authorization information associated with the items; and to determine, based at least in part on the age-related authorization information, an age-related authorization threshold that authorizes the purchase of the items.
An embodiment of a computerized process is described for determining an age-related authorization threshold for a purchase comprising a plurality of items. The process comprises the acts of: obtaining electronic identifiers for a plurality items that a purchaser is attempting to purchase; using the electronic identifiers to access a database of age-related authorization information associated with the items; and determining, based at least in part on the age-related authorization information, an age-related authorization threshold that authorizes the purchase of the items.
An embodiment of a point-of-sale device is described for determining an age-related authorization threshold for a purchase that comprises at least one item. The point-of-sale device comprises: an item identifier apparatus that is configured to transmit identifying electronic signals associated with items that a purchaser wishes to purchase; a database of age-related authorization threshold information for items that are available for purchase; a table of electronically stored records that are associated with age calculations performed in association with purchases. The point-of-sale device further comprises a computer processor that is configured to receive the item-identifying signals from the item identifier apparatus, to use the item-identifying signals to access age-related authorization threshold information in the database that is related to the items in the purchase, and to select one of the accessed age-related authorization thresholds to be the age-related authorization threshold for the purchase. The computer processor is further configured to calculate the age of the purchaser and to store in the table a record indicative of the purchase and of the calculated age of the purchaser.
An embodiment of a process for determining an authorization threshold for a purchase comprising at least one item is described. The process comprises the acts of: (i) identifying an item associated with a purchase; (ii) accessing stored information about the item that is indicative of an authorization threshold associated with the item; (iii) repeating steps (i) and (ii) for each of the items in the purchase; and (iv) selecting one of the thresholds to be the authorization threshold for the purchase.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.